


Fluffy Afterlife

by Hils



Series: The Fluffy Files [25]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-08-20
Updated: 2001-08-20
Packaged: 2018-10-09 17:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10417233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hils/pseuds/Hils





	

Spike couldn't take his eyes off her. It was Buffy. She was really here, standing in front of him on the stairs just as she had the night she had died. Not the robot, the real thing, and she was beautiful. Just as he'd remembered her. He could vaguely hear Dawn chattering in the background but he wasn't listening.

"Dawn, go and get some bandages." He finally said softly, his eyes falling on her cut up hands.

He hated knowing that she had been forced to claw her way out of her coffin, knowing for himself how terrifying it was. He didn't know whether to hate whoever had put her through that or thank them for bringing her back to him.

"Come on." He coaxed to Buffy gently, taking her hands and leading her into the living room.

"We'll get that taken care of for you."

She still seemed a little dazed and understandably so, but he managed to get her settled into one of the chairs. He sat down opposite her and carefully took her hands to he could examine the extent of the damage.

"How...How long have I been gone?" Buffy asked falteringly, looking at him in a way that made his undead heart want to melt. She looked scared, confused, hurt and a whole lot of other things he couldn't put a name to. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and tell her how much he'd missed her. But that wasn't going to do her state of mind any good.

"A hundred and forty seven days." He replied. Of course he'd been keeping count. Every day that had passed without her had been agony for him, knowing that it was his fault she was gone and that nothing he could do would be able to change that.

"Here." Dawn said softly, cutting into his thoughts as she placed a box of bandages and some disinfectant down on the table. She looked between Buffy and Spike and realised that he probably wanted to talk to her alone for a bit. She'd have plenty of time to spend with Buffy later.

"I'll go and get Buffy's bed made up." She said and disappeared upstairs, leaving the two of them alone again.

Spike picked up the disinfectant and carefully began to clean her hands, trying his best not to hurt her. She'd been through enough already.

As he gently dabbed the cool antiseptic over her wounds, she flinched slightly.

"Sorry." He muttered softly, his mind spinning from the reality that it was actually Buffy sitting in front of him.

She didn't answer him, but looked up at him with sad eyes. In those eyes, there was a small glimmer of something else. Thanks, maybe? Could it be that she actually appreciated his presence? He wasn't sure, and he wasn't about to push his luck and ask. There were so many things he wanted to say to her. Words of regret at his failure to save her that night, mixed with words of utter joy at her return. But looking at her now, he knew that this was no time to talk about anything.

Just as he was placing the bandages onto her wounds, the front door burst open loudly, filling the room with the incessant chatter of the Scoobies.

They saw Buffy and Spike sitting in the living room, and immediately they pounced on her.

Xander hugged her tightly, as she sat there completely wooden. Spike could see the distress in her eyes, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted.

"Oh man, Buff...It really is you. We knew you'd be okay." Xander said happily.

"I said you'd probably come home." Willow beamed, still proud that her magic had done it's job in saving Buffy.

"You're not feeling homicidal, or evil are you? Because you were sort of scary back there." Anya informed her.

Buffy just looked over at Spike, then down at their hands. Dawn came rushing down the stairs when she heard all the racket.

"What are you guys doing? Leave her alone." Dawn said, pushing past them, and standing in front of Buffy.

"We're just talking, Dawn." Willow said, confused by her hostility.

"Talking? Does it look like she wants to talk? She's like in some kind of shock." She said irritated.

"Relax, Dawnster. Buffy's fine. Right?" Xander turned his gaze towards Buffy.

She felt like screaming that everything was not fine. It was a nightmare. But she couldn't form the words.

"Did you guys do this? How is she back here?" Dawn demanded to know.

"It was a spell. I saved her. She was in Hell, and I pulled her out. She's going to be fine now." Willow explained happily.

Buffy was so confused. Hell? They rescued her from Hell? She didn't understand why they kept saying things like that. Where she had been...Buffy's eyes almost teared at the mere thought of it. It hadn't felt like hell. But she just couldn't bring herself to even speak of it now. Everyone was talking and it was getting to her. It was all so loud, so bright. She looked up at everyone and managed a weary smile.

"I'm fine." She assured them, anything to make it quiet.

Spike was still holding her hands, and he leaned into her slightly.

"Are you really fine?" He asked softly.

She just looked at him and said nothing. He could read her eyes, and they were definitely not signalling that all was well. But he held his tongue, not wanting to upset her.

She was tense and her hands started trembling slightly. Spike held them a little tighter, to still them. She wasn't sure why, but his presence in the room was the only thing that comforted her. Everyone else was demanding reassurance that she was all right, while the only thing Spike wanted was to take care of her. She glanced at him again, and smiled slightly.

As Spike finished bandaging her hands she looked around at her friends who were all staring at her expectantly. The only ones who didn't seem to be waiting for her to say something were Dawn who just seemed happy that she was back and Spike who seemed to be a mixture of happy and worried. He seemed to be the only one who actually cared what she was feeling right now.

"I'm pretty tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."

This seemed to please everyone except Spike who still had that look of concern in his eyes. It was clear he wasn't buying of her 'I'm fine' routine.

She made an attempt to stand up but her legs clearly had other ideas, buckling beneath her before she'd even managed to get fully upright. Luckily Spike's reflexes were on standby and he managed to catch her before she fell, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her towards the stairs.

"Hey!" Xander yelled, running over to them so that he was stood in front of Spike, blocking his way. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Taking Buffy upstairs." Spike replied calmly. "As soon as you get out of my way."

"Over my dead body." Xander growled. "You think I'm going to stand here and watch you take advantage of Buffy like this?"

" It's ok." Buffy said weakly, letting her head drop onto Spike's shoulder. Why couldn't they all just leave her alone? She didn't mind Spike putting her to bed; in fact he was the only one she really felt comfortable around at the moment.

"Buffy, no." Xander protested. "You've been through a lot tonight and he's just looking for an excuse to get you alone while you're not at full strength."

Buffy almost wanted to cry. All she wanted was to get some sleep and her supposed friends wouldn't even let her do that in piece now.

"Xander!" Dawn yelled, coming to the rescue. "Buffy says she doesn't mind Spike helping her so why don't you just leave her alone. She doesn't need you hassling her right now."

"I'm only trying to help." He grumbled, but backed down and stepped away from the stairs.

Without sparing him a second glance Spike shifted Buffy carefully in his arms and then carried her up to her room.

Spike made his way down the familiar hallway to Buffy's room. It looked just the same as it had the last time she had slept there, all those months ago. He supposed part of the reason nothing had changed was because the Buffy-bot had taken up residence there in Buffy's place. But everyone knew that no one could have ever truly taken her place.

He gently lay her down on the bed and she curled up into a little ball, hugging her knees to her chest. He sat down beside her, and cautiously reached over to stroke her hair.

"Will you be alright?" He asked softly.

"I think so. I-I just need to rest." She whispered.

"Right then. You do that. Sleep. And maybe you'll feel more clear-headed in the morning." He smiled hopefully.

He didn't really believe that any more than she did, but for his sake she nodded her head in agreement. She closed her eyes and Spike reluctantly stood up from the bed. He didn't want to leave her, for fear that he would wake up and none of this would be real. It was almost as if he took his eyes off of her, she would fade away. But he wanted to give her her privacy.

He started towards the door, when Buffy gasped for air and sat up abruptly. Her heart was thumping loudly in her ears and her breath was laboured. Spike rushed over to her bedside again.

"Are you alright? What is it?" He asked with concern.

Tears involuntarily ran down her cheeks and she looked up at him.

"I-I had flash of something. My coffin...When I closed my eyes, all I could see was the lid of that coffin." She said sadly. "And I was so scared. And I kept clawing at it...And the dirt kept falling..." She began to sob.

He sat down and smoothed her hair away from her face, as he gently wiped her tears away.

"My god...What have they done to you?" He whispered softly.

"I don't want to be alone." She said suddenly.

He nodded his head, and tried to fight his own tears that threatened to fall.

"Right. I'll go get someone. Willow? Tara?" He offered.

She shook her head.

"No. I don't want to see any of them. I want you to stay here."

He wasn't sure he heard her words correctly, but the desperate look in her eyes told him that she meant what she said.

"I'll stay as long as you want me to." He assured her.

She smiled and laid herself back down on the pillows. She felt the weight of his body as he positioned himself nearest to her. She reached over and took his hand.

"Thank you." She whispered, as her weary body gave into sleep.

He sat there for awhile, just staring down at her sleeping figure. Every once in awhile she would flinch, and her face would grimace, as if she were struggling with something. But he would rub his hand over her back, calming her in her slumber.

He was a bundle of mixed emotions. On one hand, he had never been happier in his entire life. The woman he loved and adored beyond reason was back in his life. But on the other hand, she was obviously damaged by her return, and more than a little frightened and unhappy. He hated seeing her like this.

He was used to her being strong and in control. Seeing her so helpless and confused, it ripped his heart out. He felt the bottled up emotions begin to consume him. He began to cry softly, hoping against all hope that she wouldn't wake and see him like this. Or worse yet, that someone else wouldn't come in and catch him weeping into Buffy's pillow shams.

Time passed and finally Spike could no longer keep his eyes open. He slumped beside her, and fell asleep. She instinctively turned her body so that she was facing him. Their foreheads pressed together, and her arms were draped over his waist. He pulled her tightly to him. He wasn't of the mind to worry whether or not he was making a wrong move. She needed his comfort, and he needed hers.

Dawn poked her head into Buffy's room cautiously, as she made her way to bed. She had been surprised when Spike never returned downstairs. But when she saw them cuddled together on the bed, she understood why. Buffy needed him right now. Dawn understood that. She smiled and shut the door, leaving them to their sleep.

* * *

Buffy awoke the next morning with two conflicting emotions. On the one hand she was disappointed and upset to find that she hadn't dreamt the events of the previous night. She really had been forced to claw her way out of her coffin and had to listen to her friends being loud and oppressive around her. One the other hand, as she lay there in bed with her eyes closed she felt oddly comforted. She could feel the light filtering in through the curtains and warming her as she lay wrapped up in the covers and she could feel the comforting presence of someone holding her tight.

Opening her eyes she saw Spike lying beside her, his face just a few inches away from hers. His arms were wrapped around her waist and he was sleeping soundly. She smiled, remembering how he had been the only one to really make her feel at ease the night before. So much so that she'd trusted him above anyone else to take care of her while she slept.

She heard faint voices travelling up the stairs and realised that the gang was assembled downstairs. Either that or they'd all stayed the night. Whichever it was, she knew Xander was going to be mad when he found out Spike had slept in her bed. At this moment though, she didn't care what Xander thought.

Hating to do it she reached over and shook Spike gently, calling his name softly as she did so.

After a moment his eyes opened and he smiled at her.

"Hi." He said with almost a shy smile. "Did you sleep ok?"

Buffy nodded. "Thanks for staying with me. It helped."

He smiled again. "Happy to help."

Cocking his head to one side he too caught the sounds that were coming from downstairs.

"I think the whole gang's here." Buffy said, climbing out of bed. She was feeling a lot stronger now that she'd had a good night's rest. "I guess we should make an appearance."

Spike sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "You sure you're ready?"

The last thing he wanted was to see her as upset as she'd been the night before.

Buffy nodded and gave him a small smile. "Just stay with me and I'll be fine."

"I'm not going anywhere."

He had that look of resolve that told her he meant it and that reassured her more than anything else. Once Spike set his mind to something he followed it through til the end.

"I'm going to take a shower." Buffy said, grabbing a towel and some clean clothes. "Will you wait here for me?"

Spike nodded and she headed into the bathroom as quietly as she could, not wanting to alert the others to the fact that she was awake just yet.

Once she was showered and dressed the two of them headed downstairs. Sure enough the whole gang was assembled in the kitchen, apparently waiting for her.

"How are you feeling?" Willow asked.

"Did you sleep ok?" Dawn asked, with a smile.

"You want some breakfast?" Xander asked.

"Did you notice anything demonic last night?" Anya asked.

Great, she'd been in the room for thirty seconds and they were already bombarding her with questions. She ran over Anya's words again and frowned.

"What?"

"Maybe you should sit down." Willow suggested, gesturing to the one and only free chair.

Buffy glanced at Spike and shook her head. "I'm fine here."

Willow smiled. "Ok, first of all there's nothing to worry about. We'll get this taken care of right away."

"Why don't you just tell us what it is." Spike snapped, getting annoyed with her way of brushing off everything as some little problem. She seemed totally unconcerned by the magnitude of the spell she'd done.

Willow frowned at him but nodded. "It seems that you brought some sort of demon back from hell with you. It pulled a few scary tricks last night, trying to freak us out but it didn't work."

"I got possessed." Anya added.

Willow brushed it off with a wave of her hand. "We'll soon find out what it is and figure out a way to get rid of it."

"What does it want?" Buffy asked, afraid she wasn't going to like the answer.

Willow winced a little. "Well....we think it's still tied to you somehow."

"What?" Buffy asked confused.

"Well, we think it might have something to do with the spell I used to bring you back." Willow explained calmly. "It's no big. Really." She said dismissively.

"No big? Are you insane?" Spike asked angered by this latest development. "Oh, wait that's right. You ARE insane. Anyone in their right mind would never have done a spell like this to begin with."

"Stop it. You don't know anything about this." Willow protested defensively.

"That's right. Because the lot of you felt the need to keep me in the dark."

Xander stepped in front of Spike.

"Look, why don't you just shut your mouth? This doesn't concern you."

"It bloody well does! If some beastie is after Buffy because of something you fools did, I swear--." Spike hissed at him.

"You swear what? You'll think really bad thoughts about us? Give me a break. Come to think of it, why are you even still here?" Xander asked heatedly. "Get out, Spike."

"You know what? Fine." Spike said, as he turned around to leave.

He was so upset he didn't even stop to consider the fact that it was morning and very sunny outside. Before he had time to realise that fact, Buffy grabbed his arm.

"Stop. Don't leave." She urged him.

Spike remembered that he had promised her to stay as long as she needed, but the presence of her so-called friends made things difficult.

"Buffy..." Spike said softly.

She squeezed his arm affectionately and looked at everyone else.

"I want Spike to stay here." She said firmly.

Before Xander could protest, Willow stepped forward and spoke up.

"It might be a good idea for Spike to stick close to Buffy for awhile." She told them.

"What? No. That's never a good idea." Xander shook his head.

"Buffy wants him here, and he might be able to protect her from this hell-ghost thingy. It seems to only want to posses those connected with the spell. Besides, Spike already has a demon inside him. He should be safe." Willow explained.

"Great, then it's settled. Spike stays. End of discussion." Buffy said seriously.

No one else had anything to say to that. For some reason, Buffy was latching onto Spike, and it made everyone a little uncomfortable. Everyone except Dawn, who knew and accepted how much Spike loved her sister. She was glad that Spike was able to bring Buffy some comfort during this extremely stressful time.

"Who wants to give me a ride to school?" Dawn asked, breaking the tension in the room.

"I will." Xander offered, feeling the need to get out Spike's presence before he said anything he might regret later.

"Meet us at the Magic Box when you're done dropping her off." Willow told him. "We're all heading out now to do some research."

Xander nodded as he headed for the door. Dawn came over and gave Buffy a small kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so glad you're back." She smiled.

Buffy managed to smile back slightly, and waved Dawn goodbye. Everyone else got their stuff together and readied themselves for the trip to the Magic Box.

"Are you sure you're alright here alone?" Willow asked Buffy worriedly.

"I'm fine. I'm not alone. I've got Spike." Buffy assured her. "Just go take care of this, okay? Call me if there's any news."

Willow nodded and smiled. Everyone disappeared out the door and Buffy visibly relaxed. She let out a sigh of relief, which Spike was quick to pick up on.

"I thought they'd never leave." Spike told her with a small grin.

"Me too." She agreed.

"I'm sure they mean well."

"Yeah."

He sensed her discomfort at the mere mention of her friends, and he decided to shift the subject.

"So, what do you make of this demon business? You think it really came back from Hell with you?"

Her face fell and she shook her head. She wrung her hands nervously and looked up at him.

"I think I wanna go lie down again." She said, avoiding his question.

"Okay. Well, I'll just be down here watching the telly if you need me." He offered.

"No."

"No telly?"

"No, I mean, will you come upstairs with me? I-I don't really want to be alone."

"Right. Of course. Especially not with a Hell ghost on your heels." He agreed. He just hadn't wanted to intrude on her personal space, and wear out his welcome.

They headed back up the stairs and into Buffy's room. She lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what it was he was supposed to be doing. Talking to her? Making jokes? Pretending she hadn't been dead for all those months? Her voice startled him out of his thoughts.

"Whatever it is that's after us, it didn't come back from Hell with me." She said plainly.

"What's that, Pet?"

"I don't know what it is, but it didn't come back with me."

"How do you figure that?" He wondered.

"Because, I wasn't in Hell. Wherever I was, it was calm and peaceful, and quiet. It wasn't Hell." She admitted with tears in her eyes. "I think it might have been Heaven. If there is such a thing. It felt like Heaven."

Spike felt a lump catch in his throat at her admission. He had already been conflicted about her return. The only source of comfort he had gotten was that she was now safe again. She wasn't being tormented in a Hell dimension anymore. But learning that she had instead been in Heaven, it rocked him to the core.

"Buffy...My god...Are you sure? Maybe your memory--."

"I'm sure. Wherever I was, it was safe. I was happy. I felt whole. Being back here is like being in Hell. Everything is painful and frightening...I was finally at peace and now I'm not."

Spike held back his emotions and he reached over to take her hand. She was still staring up at the ceiling, almost as if she couldn't make eye contact as she relayed her tale to him. She felt his fingers clasp around hers and she squeezed them tightly.

"You need to tell your friends about this." He said seriously.

She sat up and looked at him. She shook her head.

"No. I can't."

"Yes, you can. You need to. You can't let them think that they've done this wonderful thing by saving you. Their hands are sore from patting each other on the back over their magnificent achievement. Sodding fools. You need to tell them. You can't keep something this big to yourself."

Before Buffy could respond to his words, there was a sudden chill in the room. They both looked over at Buffy's closet and saw the image of the evil ghost demon form in front of them. Both of their eyes grew wide as they stood up to face it.

Spike was the first to react, charging forward before the demon could even move. There was no way he was going to let Buffy be taken from him again. He swung at it with all the strength he could muster but his fist went straight through the misty demon and into the mirrored door behind it, shattering the glass and slicing his hand open. He didn't let that slow him though and he took another swing with the same result.

"We might have a bit of a problem here." He yelled over his shoulder.

The demon looked at Spike with disdain. "Pathetic creature. You are not my concern here."

A tendril of mist hit him squarely in the stomach, knocking him backward towards the door. He tried his best to fight it off but it was no use, although the demon had no problems hitting him it seemed he was unable to fight back. The demon kept hitting him until he was out on the landing.

"Be gone." It said, and with one more hit Spike was sent tumbling down the stairs and he hit the bottom with a resounding thud.

With a cry Buffy ran out and managed to get a glimpse of him lying motionless at the foot of the stairs before being propelled back into her room by the demon.

"Poor little girl." It crooned with mock sympathy. "Did that creature tell you that you belong here?"

Another tendril of mist hit her, sending her propelling into her desk.

"You don't belong here." The demon continued, hitting her again.

Tears of rage burned in Buffy's eyes as the image of Spike's motionless body played over and over inside her head. He'd been the only one to make her feel even the slightest bit happy and now this creature was trying to take her away from him. Although a small part of her relished the idea of going back to heaven, the rest of her knew it would totally destroy Spike and she couldn't bear to see that happen after all he'd done for her.

Grabbing an axe from underneath her bed she stood up and swung at the demon, knowing it wouldn't do any good but determined to fight as hard as she could. With any luck Willow and the other would find a way to stop this thing.

Her axe went straight through the demon and it hit her again, sending her slamming into the wall. Her eyes darted around the room as she began to look for a way out. She could go through the window but that would mean leaving Spike unconscious and helpless at the bottom of her stairs. No matter what she couldn't leave him.

The only other option was to make a break for the door. It was more risky but she didn't have a choice. She prepared herself for the run when suddenly the atmosphere seemed to change. The temperature rose back to normal and the air seemed to get a little thinner and less oppressive. Buffy looked back at the demon and was surprised to see that instead of a misty looking creature there was now a solid looking old woman stood before her. Without a thought Buffy swung her axe and took the demon's head clean off its shoulders.

She stood looking at the body for a few moments and as soon as she was sure it wasn't going to rise again she dropped her axe and hurried down the stairs.

Buffy made her way over to Spike, who was starting to come to. He sat up slightly and clutched his ribcage. Buffy knelt at his side.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

He nodded his head slightly.

"What about you? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine." She assured him. "Whatever it was, it's dead now."

He was so relieved that Buffy had enough wits about her to defeat this demon on her own. He hadn't been as much help as he wanted to be. He felt guilty. But there was a small part of him that was reassured by the fact that Buffy fought for herself and for him. She may have been saddened by leaving Heaven, but she hadn't given up the fight to return.

She noticed his hand was cut and bleeding. She took it gently in her own, and examined it carefully.

"Your hand is hurt."

"It'll mend." He said dismissively as he stood to his feet with her help.

"Here, let me fix it for you." She smiled comfortingly.

She led him back over to the couch, where the medical supplies from last night were still lying on the coffee table. She took out the disinfectant and began cleaning his wounds. He winced at the sting.

"Luv, is that really necessary? It's not like I'll get an infection." He pointed out with a grimace.

"I just want to clean it up a bit before I bandage it. Stop being such a baby." She teased him.

He smiled at her. She was joking with him. It was a good sign that the old Buffy he used to know was still in there somewhere. She finished putting the bandages on his hand and patted it gently.

"There."

He looked at his hand and then back at her.

"You didn't have to do that." He told her.

"I was just returning the favour." She smiled at him.

Spike smiled in return but the moment was broken by the front door banging open and the whole gang running in.

"Buffy are you ok?" Dawn asked with concern. "The demon possessed Xander and found out the only way to stay here is to kill you."

"It's ok Dawn, I killed it."

"I told you my spell worked." Willow said proudly. "I made the demon solid so you could fight it."

"Too bad you couldn't have done it a bit sooner." Spike groaned as he staggered to his feet. He was hurt, exhausted and he wanted to go home and sleep

"Wait." Buffy said, reaching out and grabbing his uninjured hand. "I have to tell you all something."

She tugged Spike's hand until he was sat down next to her and she didn't let go of it.

"It's about the spell you did. The one that brought me back."

Willow smiled proudly, waiting for the thanks she knew was coming.

"I-I wasn't in hell." Buffy said falteringly, lowering her eyes so she didn't have to face the looks of horror from everyone but Spike. "I was somewhere happy. Heaven I think, I don't know."

The stunned silence that followed made Buffy regret even thinking about telling them. Now they all hated themselves and it was her fault. But a squeeze of her hand from Spike reassured her and finally she looked up to face them.

"I know you guys were only trying to help, I don't blame you for what you did. You didn't know where I was."

"Buffy. I-I" Willow choked, barely able to find the words to convey the regret she felt. The others looked on in numb shock while silent tears ran down Dawn's cheeks.

"Guys, don't look at me like that. I don't want you to feel bad about what you did. I need your help, all of you. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through this without you."

Dawn was the first to move, running over and throwing her arms around her sister. "I'll do whatever I can Buffy, I promise."

Buffy smiled and stroked her sister's hair. "Thanks."

The rest of them smiled uncertainly and offered their own words of comfort. Finally Buffy stood, realising that they probably needed some time to take in what she'd told them and figure out what they were going to do.

"I'm going to do a quick patrol. You guys stay here; I'll be back soon. Spike, you wanna come with me?"

He smiled and stood up, joining her at the door.

Soon the two of them were making their way through the cemetery towards Spike's crypt.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Buffy asked, noticing he was limping slightly as he walked.

"Just a few bruises. I'll be right as rain once I've had some kip."

The stopped outside his door and Spike turned to face her.

"Do you regret telling your mates about what they did?"

"I don't know." Buffy replied. "I hated seeing the looks on their faces when I told them, but part of me is glad they know. My heart feels kind of lighter, you know?"

Spike nodded. "It's better that they know, pet. Now they can help."

"Spike, I want to thank you." Buffy suddenly blurted out, causing him to jump slightly. "For everything you've done since I came back. You're the one that's made it bearable here. You're the one that made me not want to give up when that demon was trying to kill me."

Stunned didn't even begin to cover the way Spike felt as he listened to her talk. He never imagined he'd hear words like this coming from her lips, especially not about him.

He was even more stunned when she leant up and kissed him softly.

"Besides, I don't need to go back to heaven just yet." Buffy smiled as she pulled back. "I've got my own little part of it right here."

The End


End file.
